Friday, July 18, 2008

NOTE: Since there has been some concern about Maddox's safety, I include this note from Maddox's Mom:

"Maddox is has always loved his baths, and I heard from many Florida natives that their childhood pet rabbits jumped into their cholrine pool voluntarily to swim with them. I had always expected a rabbit to like dislike water as much as a cat.

I took him into the saline pool, and he wasn't a bit panicked. He completely blissed out. He has a sweet gentle doggie paddle stroke and know how to get out of the pool on his own."

Perhaps Maddox disapproves of being broadcast over the blogesphere au naturel? As for saline pool, it would be a natural healing agent just like one of us going to the ocean. Heals cuts and scrapes and the like.

I thought bunnies could get water in their lungs and even die hours later? Is that just a rumor? Seeing bunnies in water scares me for that reason! and there is an RIP maddox comment? did the little cutie die at some point?

Maddox is has always loved his baths, and I heard from many Florida natives that their childhood pet rabbits jumped into their cholrine pool voluntarily to swim with them. I had always expected a rabbit to like dislike water as much as a cat.

I took him into the saline pool, and he wasn't a bit panicked. He completely blissed out. He has a sweet gentle doggie paddle stroke and know how to get out of the pool on his own.

hey maddox's mom - i'm sorry he was attacked and died recently :( i had no doubt he enjoyed the water from the pic (see my earlier post). and that you would not put him in harms way. i just recently lost a bun, archi, at the paws of my puppy and it was a horrible loss. my heart goes out to you and thank you for sharing a wonderful memory of maddox blissed out and cooling off! they bring us such joy and we do our best to give them a great life for the time we have them

Thank you so much for sharing Maddox with us. The picture was adorable - I have seen several rabbits who like to swim now. I agree with the person who commented that this picture is a celebration of Maddox's life. I'm so sorry for you loss.

Hi Maddox's mom! I'm heartbroken to hear he died. I would love to hear more Maddox stories. I'm sorry if i sounded like i was accusing you...I really was curious and, as a new bunny mom, there's just so little i know for sure, and so many info tidbits out there that could be true or not and it's hard to know. (for example, scary comments on videos of swimming buns on youtube). It's clear he was a beloved and well cared for swimming bun (and of course quite handsome and very special). Even after all my reading and research, I still feel like it's so much easier to know how to take care of cats and dogs, understand when something goes wrong, and fix it--they seem downright obvious in comparison. --Marvin's mom

He was bossy and demanding..a real 'diva' in character...he'd let you KNOW his likes-dislikes.

I had never experienced one before him that did not react like a clawing cat near water. Maddox is a double-mane lionhead, a chore to bath because his fur's density, but at times also necessary. He sat calmy in the water, enjoyed a good lathering of moisturing shampoo, and also tolerated a soft blow dry. Between the stories I heard about pool swimming rabbits, seeing Maddox's consistent calm in water, and having access to a saline pool...I figured I could give it a cautious try.

What you might not be able to tell from the photo is Maddox's fur was so dense at this time, his 3 lb body floated on the fluff. His torso never got wet to the skin....built in life-jacket!

You can check out Maddox's diva lifestyle on his MySpace Page...he certainly lived better than I did!

Oh, I'm so sorry about Maddox. They leave such big holes in our lives...I've seen some of the swimming buns of youtube and I've thought of seeing if any of mine might like swimming, but they are all angoras- what a big felt-fest that would be!

I am so sorry to hear about Maddox, what a terrible loss. I think the picture is adorable. I have never seen a picture of a bunny swimming before, how cool! I look at the picture and can almost hear the steel drums playing and the sound of margaritas in a blender.